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Farz (1967)

Had Ravikant (Ravee Kant) Nagaich ever asked me for career advice, I probably would have told him to stick to cinematography—he really does excel in that department. But as a director, he has an uncanny ability to take ingredients like this:

and make them into films which lull you into an uncomfortably bored stupor: uncomfortable because you are really justifiably afraid that if you fall asleep you will miss something truly wondrous. When I see his name in the credits, I am happy and sad. I adore Mr. Nagaich, truly, but he SO disappoints me. It’s confusing, almost as bewildering as his ability to convince audiences that his actors are dancing.

Farz first came on my radar through the loony Burr-day song with Babita and “Jumping Jack” Jeetendra, and I have been told by many that it is the film which gave Jeetu his reputation as a dancer and made him a star. He certainly does jump! I have to give him that, but dancing? Really? I don’t think that a little butt-wiggle a la Gemma combined with jumping actually equals dancing, but perhaps I am too harsh.

Or not. Babita of course is justly famous for not being able to dance, and I love her for it.

Anyway, there is plenty to like about Farz even if the sum of all those crazy parts doesn’t quite equal a good film. You really need a Fast Forward button to get through the endless “comic” antics of Mohan Chhoti and Mukri (both of whom I generally enjoy, but not in this) and long stretches of repetitive action and…um, dancing. The plot itself is a largely incoherent “tribute” to Bond, with enemy agents combining forces with Indian traitors to destabilize India. Jeetendra plays Agent 116—Gopal—with enthusiastic aplomb and an Elvis-style pompadour.

Gopal is assigned to the case by the head of CID (David) after his previous Agent (303) is killed on the job, although not before he manages to take—and hide—incriminating photographs which if located can help identify the perpetrators.

I love that he is done in by a girl carrying a knife disguised as a giant flashlight even though it’s the middle of a bright sunny day. (There are many many examples of day-night continuity problems throughout, though, so maybe it was actually the middle of the night and we just didn’t realize it.)

Gopal’s flirtatious Bond nature has been established already by a loony song and dance with Aruna Irani (who of course actually can dance, and who is also wearing less makeup than Gopal).

On the way to his new assignment he is seated next to the lovely Sunita (Babita), and he wastes no time in showering her with insincere compliments too.

While he is thus occupied in midair, the traitor responsible for killing Agent 303 has gone to meet 303’s sister Kamla (Kanchana). Damodar (Sajjan) convinces Kamla that he is a CID Inspector investigating her brother’s death, and that his killer will be arriving soon in the guise of her brother’s “friend” and colleague. He also sends that same girl with the deadly flashlight to kill Agent 116 upon his arrival—but she fails miserably and is mistakenly shot by one of her own goondas thanks to Gopal’s prowess as a fighter.

We are then tortured for some time by the antics of Gopal’s contact in Santa Cruz, Shantaram (Agha) and his CSP sons/nephews. It’s truly painful, although Mohan Chhoti proves that he too can jump after Jeetendra kicks him.

When this finally ends (for now) Gopal goes to see 303’s sister Kamla, who now believes that Gopal is her brother’s murderer. She is an exceedingly stupid girl, in my opinion, and has promised Damodar that she will help him eliminate Gopal. Gopal does see a portrait of 303 on the wall and notes down the photographer studio where it was taken—smart boy!

The interior sets for this film are pretty fabulously furnished (and wallpapered), I must say, if sometimes a bit on the blinding side.

Damodar turns out to be the lovely Sunita’s father, as Gopal discovers when he tracks down 303’s pictures, which include a shot of Damodar’s license plate. Gopal follows the car one evening and is shocked when Sunita gets out of it. Luckily she is going to a club so we get another lively—and lovely—song (“Tumse O Haseena”) which unfortunately culminates in an irritatingly juvenile (and long) food fight complete with those annoying “you’re supposed to laugh now” sound effects.

As he sets out to prove his case against Damodar, Gopal continues to romance Sunita and attends her birthday party where he sings the aforementioned Birthday Song “Baar Baar Din Ye Aaye” as her father plots with his henchmen to kill him. And apart from the whole killing/henchman thing, Indian birthday parties really are the Absolute Best.

The Birthday Girl Outfit, the balloons, the joie-de-vivre!

Although I hate to have to say it: Jeetendra looks like he’s on the awkward verge of tearing some ligaments sometimes, especially when the carpet underfoot slides around dangerously.

Anyway, he survives it all and eventually after a bunch of other stuff happens he tells Sunita the truth about her beloved father.

She confronts Damodar, who tells her that he has been forced into his life of crime and terrorism.

Gopal’s job of course is to find out who the big guys behind Damodar actually are.

Did someone say—dance?!

OH honey NO. Just…no.

And also, yes: that outfit does make you look fat. (The pit stains don’t help either.) You are a beautiful girl, why didn’t you run from this?

Will Kamla ever figure out that she’s on the wrong side, besides being in a totally wrong brocade ensemble? Can Damodar redeem himself in the eyes of his daughter and her not-that-secret Agent boyfriend? Just who IS the puppet-master here, anyway?

Here’s a hint—it’s only a minor spoiler since the plot is so badly conceived: he looks like a faux-Chinese cross between Boy George and Dr. Evil, in pancake makeup and Mao jacket and cap. His name is Supremo. Love.

Supremo speaks in staccato bursts of one or two strangely accented English words, except when he issues final instructions to his evil minions:

I don’t know why this film is bad. I just know that it is. It seems to go on forever, and much of it is unrewarding. Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s music deserves a shout-out though—it is wonderful, especially the background music (but the songs are fun too).

There is one more thing: I had not planned to review this at all after I watched it the first time, but I revisited it in the wake of Todd’s delightful AND insightful review of Nagaich’s Rani Aur Lalpari which I also now have to see, although Todd stops short of actually recommending it. Well, to be honest he doesn’t recommend it at all.

But that is the gift of Ravi Nagaich: you just can’t look away, although you really really want to. Maybe he should follow David’s advice:

60 Comments to “Farz (1967)”

Now it all comes back to me.
I had seen this some years ago and remember only loose pieces of it. I remember all the songs but that could be because I caught them on youtube also later.
This was indeed the movie that saved Jeetu. He was in fact so desperate that he spent lots of money buying tickets in the hall to make this look like a box-office success. He has admitted as much in interviews.
This movie also gave him that Jumping Jack image, something that he put to good use in loads of movies at least till Gulzar gave him an image makeover with Parichay (1972). Movies like Waaris, Ek Bechara, Jigri Dost and a whole host of others. :-)

Btw, just love this review. Lines like “She is an exceedingly stupid girl, in my opinion,..” :-)

I do find those food fights silly. And you do come across them in a fair number of movies of the 60s/70s. I remember seeing this also in a Shammi movie (Jaanwar?) – but there it is OK. ;-)

Why is this film bad? If I remember right, it is a desperate attempt at copying a Bond movie – but then, instead of keeping it tight and focussed, it adds all the formulaic Hindi movie elements that make it one big hotchpotch. The songs are ok but I remember the rest of it being tiring. You just wanted to get on with the movie, there were too many digressions.

But then the public seemed to lap it up later (not initially, as Jeetu himself admitted). I think the songs may have had something to do with its success. :-)

I have heard that birthday song from Farz. Other than that Jeetu did not entice me to the theatre. The only jeetu films I have liked are Parichay & Khusboo -both Gulzar movies and Caravan of course for its fab songs.

I have never been impressed with Babit – have seen some songs of her on a songs DVD. While the songs were melodious she was not so impressive. Hence I have given her movies a miss

@Filmbuff – There’s one Babita movie with my favourite Dharmendra – Kab, Kyon and Kahan? (1970). This is a murder mystery with a bit of horror thrown in. In case you are planning to spend a rainy weekend at home, this one will be a good one.

Babita is growing on me. I find myself obsessing over her hairline—someone left a comment here once pointing out that unlike most heroines of the time who often just wore towering hair PIECES, she is always in a full-on wig. We have NEVER SEEN HER ACTUAL HAIR.

But she’s very stylish and I’ve seen her in some roles I enjoyed (she was by far not the worst thing about this one) and I love that she is so awkward. Good thing her daughters inherited the Kapoor dance genes.

Kab Kyon Aur Kahan is a fun film :) I should watch it again and write it up here…

I’m glad that Jeetu was saved though. He used to creep me out but then I saw him in Caravan and simultaneoulsly also discoverd that a favorite blogger might look like him. His unbounded energy and lack of self-consciousness. is so refreshing.
Nice review memsaab.

I don’t mind young Jeetu although he’s not a favorite and never will be. He does bring a nice energy and enthusiasm to Gopal, but it’s not enough to overcome all the other bleh. Well, even crazy Supremo and 60s style isn’t enough to do that.

The songs are lots of fun, although the dancing is just awful. So stiff, on everyone’s part…but we can’t all be Helen or Laxmi or Bela I guess (or Aruna!) :) The background score is fabulous though. Wish I could find it somewhere but I’m guessing it never made it to a record :(

This movie actually made Jeetendra a star in 1967. I remember he mentioning somewhere that he signed this movie since this was the only opportunity that he got after his debut movie – Geet Gaya Pattharon Ne (1964).

Babita also mentioned that she signed this movie since her mother literally forced her to sign this movie. Maybe it was due to the fact that she made her debut in the same year with Dus Lakh and Raaz (both 1967). Possibly her mother was thinking that if those didn’t click then this could launch her career in Bollywood.

Hard to believe that Laxmikant-Pyarelal also had Milan in the same year. The two movies are so poles apart !

Excellent point about L-P—the music from Milan could not be more different than this :) I know this was a fairly big hit (or at least that’s my impression)…but I still just can’t bring myself to recommend it.

Yes, I do remember that, because two seconds later he broke the same window with his SHOE and nary a spark flew out of it *EYE ROLL*…(I didn’t mean it wasn’t copied from Dr. No, just that it didn’t quite measure up to Dr. No :)

I thought I remembered watching this film and becoming incredibly bored as soon as 116 meets the contact, and was generally nodding at your assessments. But half-way through your review I realised I watched this in Telugu (Gudachari 116 = “Spy 116”). During that period Telugu actor Krishna = Hindi actor Jeetendra. (Also, that’s how Sridevi moved to Hindi movies)

Krishna couldn’t dance for the life of him (but his awkward moves are so adorable :)), and with that comparison Jeetu looked as an incredible dancer to me.

Given such as a scene-to-scene follow-up (and Kanchana, Rajanaala), I guessed there must be some Southern Producers involved. But it turns out Ravikant is the Cinematographer for the Telugu version.

‘Supremo’ is actually a popular old Telugu villain (Rajanaala). I especially remember him because my grand mother always goes on and on about how he is from her hometown.

I knew that it was a remake of a Telugu film where Ravi N. was the cinematographer (so it must have been visually stylish anyway)…was it a better film? Would be interesting to compare. Or maybe not!!! :D

Thanks for the info re: Rajanaala, I wondered who played Supremo. I thought Kanchana was very pretty, except when she was forced into the awful brocade bell-bottomed, bell-sleeved horror and made to dance awkwardly.

Telugu was in B&W. Maybe a song or two were in colour? It’s been a while ago, but I still recall reading your review that both movies have almost same to same scenes (including annoying CSP).

I too think Kanchana is very pretty. She was an Air Hostess before coming in to movies. She was pretty forward in her costumes for those days….well, some horrible choices could ensue..:)

Interestingly, this movie has the ‘sister’ playing ‘vamp’. I don’t know what they were thinking with ‘sister’ (= usually a stupid, helpless, but GOOD girl) becoming a ‘vamp’ (= ring for horrible costumes and contortions); savings on second actress?

One more thing is that I remember Aruna Irani mentioning in an interview that the choreographer (I forget his name) used to cane (yes, cane) the actors if they didn’t dance well for the songs. Not sure how Jeetu still managed to get away with these dance steps though. Same goes for Babita too.

Also, there is one more movie named Haseena Maan Jaayegi (1968) starring Shashi Kapoor and Babita. Shashi has gone on record saying ‘Babita can’t dance for nuts. During the shooting of a song I just told her to stand on my feet and leave the rest to me.’
I guess he was p*ssed off since she used to call him ‘Uncle’ on the sets :-)

Well to be fair, he *IS* her uncle by marriage! I think most experts agree that Babita has two lead feet :) Jeetu had more energy but no more talent! The choreographer in this one had an unfamiliar name to me, I think he was also from the South…

On Shashi Kapoor, remember in 1968, Babita was not yet married to Randhir Kapoor, though they were going steady. In the following year, she starred opposite two of her ‘uncles’ – with Shammi kapoor in ‘Tum Se Achcha Kaun Hai’ and with Shashi again in ‘Ek Shriman Ek Shrimati’.

Going by the number of ‘uncles’ she was acting with, she could have replaced Nirupa Roy in ‘Deewar’ (1975) had she continued after marriage :-)

Thanks, Memsaab. Now I’m DOUBLY sure I don’t want to see this movie, while secure in the knowledge that I can experience its highlights via you wonderful screen caps. (Supremo, by the way, has some pretty gnarly pit stains of his own. Yikes!) Nice job of eloquently summing up the decidedly mixed blessing that is Mr. Nagaich.

Yes, I think I mostly covered the highlights and skipped over the low ones. Mostly. It is very like Ankhen except with Mr. Nagaich at the helm taking it up a notch (not always in a good way). Mixed blessing is the perfect way to describe him.

Supremo’s sweat-stained clothing did not escape me, but a villain should be sweaty, na? :)

The telugu version is in black-and-white, so you will miss the eye-popping visuals. Jeetendra said that he was asked to imitate Shammi Kapoor for this film, and that he had a tough time because he didn’t know how to dance, as proven by every frame in this film. Babita looks so much like her eldest daughter Karishma Kapoor, except for the eyes. I always felt that she got a bad rap. The truth was Babita was the first Kapoor wife to give up a successful career to marry Randhir, who didn’t have a career like the two more successful Kapoors during the 1970’s: Shashi and Rishi. (Geeta Bali and Jennifer Kendall kept acting after marriage and motherhood.) When she walked out on her marriage with her two daughters, she orchestrated their careers with no help from the Kapoor family.

I think they are cousins as well, since both their last names are Shivadasani. I haven’t found any interview that confirmed their relation, since Sadhana is living a fairly reclusive life, although she has been in the news lately for a fight with a neighbor. She is a tenant in an apartment building owned by Asha Bhosle.

She didn’t need any help from the kapoors due to her sindhi blood. Apparently she is a tough cookie in demanding high amounts for her daughters and says a firm no to offers from producers who don’t fit the bill – in other words- no compromise on the price. Kareena Kapoor has admitted this when she refused Karan Johar’s Kal Ho Na Ho. Kareena even stated that when producers like Boney Kapoor can pay my price why not KJo? Fair enough coz Karan Johar is not a poor producer. In the end Priety got the role and did a good job too – i am glad Priety did the role. Kareena’s first film was Kaho Na Pyar Hai with Hritik. After a few shots, mom Babita pulled Kareena out coz Papa Roshan was totally concentrating on his son’s debut and the heroine would be a poor second.

The birthday song in Farz has become one of the most popular birthday songs (from Hindi films) out there. Even a lot of people who don’t know Hindi enjoy this song for its pure fun, joie-de-vive sentiment and use it on birthdays to wish their friends. I thought an English translation would be useful.

I did find one on the interwebs but somehow it did not seem particularly accurate to me, nor did it seem to convey the spirit of the song. So I thought I’d do a translation myself. Am posting it here since this is a go-to blog for a lot of people. :-) Including those who find English translation of Hindi dialogues/songs useful.

The Hindi lyrics here are from Atul’s blog (atulsongaday.wordpress.com). I have only attempted the English translation. It’s not a verbatim translation, it’s a loose translation of the mood and spirit. :-) I’m pretty sure somebody can do a better job than me and will be happy if somebody improves on my version. :-)

May this day come again and again
May my heart sing this again and again
May you live a thousand years
This is indeed my wish
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to
Happy Birthday to you

(Am) not in my senses right now
Who can I fall back on for support
Who is there who is your equal
Who can I indeed name
No, no, there really is none
Nobody as beautiful (as you)
On whom one’s glance just stays
Who is considered without equal

May you live a thousand years
This is indeed my wish
Happy Birthday to
Happy Birthday to you

Like others here I could’ve also brought you a gift today
In this beautiful assembly, I could’ve also brought you flowers
But my heart said, what need does she have
Of flowers
When she herself symbolizes Spring
And makes every bud’s heart beat

May you live a thousand years
This is indeed my wish
Happy Birthday to
Happy Birthday to you

The flowers from the gardens send you these greetings
The stars from the sky send you this message
They pray that the Lord may bestow on you
The years that the moon has
Even if it means the day of resurrection arrives first

May you live a thousand years
This is indeed my wish
Happy Birthday to
Happy Birthday to you

May this day come again and again
May my heart sing this again and again
May you live a thousand years
This is indeed my wish
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to
Happy Birthday to you

AWESOME. It is a song that many non-Indians love when they hear/see it for the first time, including me :) And just in time for Gilda’s birthday on Saturday (she’ll be a year old!) and mine later in the month!

FARZ (1967)is close to my year of birth,as such it was somewhere around 1978/79 on its rerelease that I saw the movie as video mania came to India somewhere around 1980 only.If I am not wrong,this was first comercial hit of our dear JEETU uncle,though IN believe around same time FEROZ uncle,s CID 909 was also released,and that too was a hit,both take off from JAMES BOND,directed by RAVEEKANT NAGICH,and MOHD.HUSSAIN,both underrated,but capable directors though RAVEEKANT NAGICH was ace photographer too,and he specialised in making take off movies of JAMES BOND,MOHD HUSSAIN too directed many suspence movies,but I personaly can only recall KHOON KHOON(1973)with SANDU uncle,probably his last movie,A funny incident happened with me,as this movie (KHOON KHOON) was certified with A certificate and IN was about seven,though I checked with someone eleder for night show,the ticket check releasing this after about fifteen minutes ,came in specfic to my seat and told sorry son you cannot watch this movie,no cajoling did melt him ultimately we came out,and went too watch ANURAAG which running at adjecent cinema.AS and when I Write of any movie,so many memories related with it errupt in my mind,and I cannot hold myself without writing about them,forgive me if it becomes lengthier,THIS ONE was first one with JEETU uncle,and IN Believe he did max. Movies with JEETU uncle,apart from MITHUNDA,I recall TWO movies with FEROZ uncle,KAALA SONA(SEP 1975)and JAADU TONA(APRIL 1978)FARZ was interesting subject,fastpaced though it slowsdown inbetween with needless songs,and I personaly feel,and even today when I watch it,in my mind I edit all songs,if I Had directed it,three new females BABITA aunty,ARUNA aunty,and south Indian actress,THE LADY IN WHITE,or is it AUNTY IN WHITE,who it seems to me was always twenty four hrs into three sixty five days on hot burner.In total a fun movie,even today fourty five years after its release,What can one say about JEETU uncle,if needles of clock can be stopped,learn follow JEETU uncle,IF post 1985 genaration follows JEETU uncles footsteps,they will defy age and remain always young,Hereby I will not forget to mention that JEETU uncles first leading lady(RAJSHREE aunty)and the last one BANUPRIYA madam had figure of sculpture like figure,straight out of AJANTA/ALORA.RAVINDER MINHAS,JALANDHAR CITY,PANJAB.minhas35@yahoo.com.